in another life (i would let you go)
by Tarafina
Summary: Elena wakes up in a world where none of her friends know her, she is not the doppelganger, and everybody, including her, might just be better off... [bamon & steroline]


**prompt** : "who are you?"  
 **ships** : bonnie/damon, stefan/caroline, elena/happiness  
 **summary** : Elena wakes up in a world where none of her friends know her, she is not the doppelganger, and everybody, including her, might just be better off...

* * *

 ** _in another life (i would let you go)_**

* * *

In retrospect, Elena realized that drunkenly wandering into the witch house and demanding that they make things right _could_ have been executed better. Or not at all. Still, she had been emotional and, as she mentioned, _drunk_. Extremely, ridiculously, over the top _drunk_. Her intention was good. Bitterly she tacked on, _wasn't it always?_ Her life and the lives of her friends were falling apart around them. She couldn't help but feel slightly at fault for that. Damon and Stefan got along better than when she first met them; _well_ , depending on the day. She couldn't help but wonder though, if she hadn't been involved at all, would they have fixed their relationship by now? Or was her face, mirrored so many times before her, always meant to be a catalyst between brothers? She didn't know.

She did know that her heart was fickle. Some days, she was sure she loved Damon beyond reason, and others she knew that Stefan was her soul mate; no other could compare. Her love for the Salvatore brothers was toxic, consuming, and chaotic. She hated herself for loving it so much, for letting it become such a huge part of herself that she often forgot who she really was or what she wanted. She'd brought that on herself though, hadn't she? She'd invited them into her life, knowing full well what they were, the past they shared, and she went ahead and repeated it. She could argue that she never _meant_ to. That when she was with Stefan, she was _wholly_ with him, but it would be a lie. Just like if she said that when she was with Damon, every piece of her heart was devoted to him when she knew some part of her had always and would always love Stefan. It wasn't a matter of a distant, past love that would always remain, no. She felt that fire, always lit and waiting, and she stoked it— she let it breathe, let it grow, let it fester as it waited on her to turn from Damon back to Stefan. Rinse and repeat.

But Stefan, despite how her heart still held out hope for him, was letting go of her. She saw it, _felt_ it, and while she didn't do it intentionally, she still found herself searching for him, inviting him out with her, trying to bring that spark back between them. Which, obviously, caused problems with Damon. Damon who, since returning from Kai's prison world had been both distant and close. He was still hurting over her erasing her memories, over whatever happened in the other world that he just didn't talk about. But at the same time, he was desperately trying to cling to her, to their love of Before, not quite as overwhelming as it had been since she'd had Alaric mind-wipe her of him.

Her memories were foggy, separate from her, not quite as real as they once were, like a movie playing out rather than an actual relationship she'd held close to her. That didn't mean she wanted to let him go though; she might not remember completely, but she did know that Damon's love for her was the kind she'd always thought she wanted. Consuming, passionate, and a little dangerous. Still, like Stefan, she could feel him pulling away from her, beginning to untether himself from her heart, and she couldn't let that happen.

When Damon wasn't with Elena, he was with Bonnie. Their friendship was one Elena was still wrapping her head around. A part of her understood that something had changed in the prison world, that they had grown closer out of a lack of anyone else to be close to. But another part of her wondered about that shared time together. Couldn't help but question Damon's loyalty to a witch he had once been willing to sacrifice if it meant keeping Elena alive. Did he still feel that way? Sometimes she caught him staring at Bonnie with something soft in his eyes and his smile. Something foreign and delicate and utterly devoted. It scared Elena.

When she went to the witch house, she was angry, she was hurt, and she wanted to know why life had dealt her such a terrible hand. Why did she have to lose her family? Why did she have to love two men only to lose them? Why her? Why her blood and her life?

Crying and drunk, she demanded that the witches fix it, she yelled at them, "You owe me! You did this to me! Make it right! Make all of it _right!_ "

She couldn't say for sure what she meant by 'right.' If she meant for them to return her family to her, return Stefan and Damon's affections for her, strip her of the vampirism that had consumed the parts of her that she had once held in high esteem. But they took it as they felt, as they decided 'right' to be, and when next she woke, she realized 'right' wasn't at all what she would have ever expected.

* * *

 **…**

* * *

Elena woke in the woods, her head pounding, eyes crusty, and mouth dry. " _Ugh_." She rolled over, pushing her hands into the earth to leverage herself onto her feet, stumbling a little as her vision swam. She needed blood; human or animal, she would take anything at this point. She just needed her hangover in the rear-view mirror. Cutting through the woods, heading for the boarding house, she picked up a rabbit on the way, drained it dry and tossed the carcass away. Her lip curled in disgust as she plucked stray hairs from her tongue. The blood hadn't done as much as she wanted it to, but her headache was reduced to a dull roar and her feet were a little steadier. Still, she would be happy to raid the freezer for something more human and, therefore, more filling.

Racing through the woods, she inhaled the clean scent of earth and trees all around her, letting it sink into her skin and revitalize her. She could smell the cool, rushing water nearby and hear the heartbeats of various animals moving away from her, recognizing a predator when it was close. By the time she reached the front of the property, she was in a better mood. Desperately in need of blood, a shower, and a nap in a comfortable bed, but still good.

Making her way up the driveway, she wondered if Damon was still mad at her. They'd had yet another argument last night, resulting in their… _fourth?_ break-up since he'd returned. It was an on-going issue of them never quite verbalizing what their problems were. Apparently, both were too afraid to actually say it aloud in case it made things too real. But, that didn't stop them from calling it quits yet again, which meant she had to be on her best behaviour and tread carefully. Damon had been… _different_ since he'd come back. Well, so far as she could remember. He was different both from the made-up memories of him and the movie-style memories she had of their relationship. More… mature, serious, but still just as self-serving in a way that seemed contradictory at times. She didn't know what to make of him. What she did know was that he and Bonnie were as thick as thieves, closer even than him and Alaric. Which was why seeing Bonnie's car in the driveway didn't even necessitate a second glance. She was probably there to listen to him rant and rave about his and Elena's latest falling out.

Reaching the door, Elena let out a long breath and wondered if maybe getting Bonnie on her side for the latest argument with Damon would help her case. He seemed to take Bonnie's opinion more seriously these days. Oh, he joked that she was still just as judgy as ever, but there was something there between them that hadn't been before, a kinship over what they'd been through. Elena always kind of thought Damon respected Bonnie, now she knew for sure.

Pushing the door open, Elena stepped forward into the house, only to find herself stopped by an invisible barrier. Brow furrowed in confusion, she let out an awkward laugh. "What?" She tried again, only to have herself shoved back a few inches. "What the hell?" She banged her hand on the barrier and called out, "Guys? Little help?" Huffing, she shifted her feet, wondering if they'd somehow moved the ownership of the boarding house to someone else, someone still alive. It wasn't a bad idea, considering, but it did leave her very much out of the loop, and out of the house.

Footsteps could be heard then, followed by the familiar scent of lavender and sweet grass. Elena smiled involuntarily. _Bonnie_. She would help her out, clear the whole situation up.

Hopping off the last stair, Bonnie swiveled on her heel and started down the hall to the door. Her head was quirked as she half-smiled at Elena.

"Hey," Elena sighed. "Invite me in. My morning started off like crap and just keeps getting worse."

Bonnie blinked at her and then glanced away. "I'm sorry…?"

"Seriously," she whined. "I get it. It's funny. I can't get in. Just invite me in. Or get Jeremy to. Whoever owns the house, whatever."

Bonnie stared at her, brow furrowed. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned her hip to one side and looked Elena over. "I have to say, that's probably the most unique attempt to get an invite, but no sale. I'm not in the habit of inviting strange vampires inside and, if you press your luck, I'm going to get a lot less hospitable."

With a scoff, Elena shook her head. "Okay, getting less amusing." She took a step forward and impatiently raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, Bonnie, let me in."

Pursing her lips, she wondered, "So, you know my name… Mind sharing yours?"

"This isn't funny."

"I'm not laughing."

"It's _Elena_. You know, your _best_ friend…" She shook her head slowly, letting out an incredulous laugh. "If this is supposed to be some weird joke, can you please just cut it out? I'm tired, and hungry, and I woke up in the woods. Please, I just… I know Damon's mad at me, but—"

"You know Damon?" She looked especially suspicious now, narrowing her eyes at Elena.

"Do I know— What? Of _course_ I do. He's my boyfriend. I know he's mad because I've been spending time with Stefan and things have been kind of weird between us since he got back, but we'll work it out. We always do. You know that."

Blinking at her slowly, Bonnie tipped her head. "You're dating Damon… But, he's mad because you're spending time with _Stefan_ …" She stared at her searchingly and then gave a little snort. "Okay, I don't know if this is some weird compulsion thing by Klaus or Rebekah, but send them my regards, will you?" She reached for the door then, aiming to close it in her face.

"Wait, stop, please!" Elena exclaimed hurriedly. "I— I don't know what's going on here, but please, Bonnie, I… I'm _Elena_. Your best friend. Please, we've known each other since forever. Me, you, Caroline, we're all best friends. I—"

"I don't _know_ any Elena," Bonnie insisted. "Caroline is my best friend, yes, but it's always been just us. Nobody else. Look, this is getting weird and I don't want to have to hurt you. Keep bringing up my friends and I _will_ put you down."

"Why are we heating the outside? What's with the draft?" a familiar voice piped up in the distance.

Elena perked up. "Damon!" she yelled. "Damon, please!"

There was a pause, and then a rush of air, before Damon appeared, standing at Bonnie's side. Arm stretched out above Bonnie's head, hand pressed to the open door, he peered down at Elena and then glanced at Bonnie. "Are we having breakfast delivered now?"

Rolling her eyes, Bonnie sniffed and said, "She's a vampire. And that joke was terrible."

"Who said it was joke?" He shrugged. "I like to tap a fresh vein every once in a while, and since my favorite witch never offers _hers_ up…"

"In your dreams," she muttered.

"Always. On repeat," he answered, wiggling his eyebrows.

Elena let out a frustrated noise, drawing their attention. "Damon, please, say you recognize me."

He frowned back at her. "Can't say I do..." To Bonnie, he asked, "Who's the whackjob?"

"I have no idea." Bonnie shook her head. "She said she knows us."

"Klaus' tricks are getting a little _weird_..." His mouth twisted up. "What do we do? Knock her out? Send her back?"

"What if she's not one of Klaus'?"

Damon sighed. "I already came up with something. It's _your_ turn."

"Can you not talk about me like I'm not _right_ here?" Elena scoffed. "I'm not compelled and this has nothing to do with Klaus. Look, I... I did something stupid. It's complicated, but, I asked the witches to change things. To make it _right_ , I guess. But, I didn't mean _this_. I meant, everything else. My life was turned upside down by all of this doppelganger stuff, and I thought if they could just remove that part. If I could go back to the start and do it over somehow..."

"I'm lost. And bored." Damon sighed. "Is there's a Cliff's Notes version of this little breakdown? Actually, no. I take that back. Since when are we the local crazies' therapy buddy?"

Bonnie slapped her hand back against his chest. "You asked the ' _witches'?_ Can you be more specific?"

"I went to the old witch house, where over a hundred witches were buried, and I asked them for a favor."

"You're not a witch," Bonnie pointed out. "You shouldn't be asking them for _anything_."

"I know." Elena groaned and shifted her weight from one foot the other. "Look, I messed up, big time. But, I can undo it, I know I can..." She chewed her lip. "I can ask them to reverse it."

"I don't know what you're trying to reverse, but you're gonna have a hard time changing anything," Damon drawled.

Elena stared at him, her brow furrowed. "Why?"

"The Old Witch House was destroyed more than a year ago, and those spirits were put to rest." Bonnie crossed her arms. "So, I don't know who you plan on asking for help this time around, but they're out."

"What, but... _Why?_ "

"Because they deserved peace." Bonnie stared at her. "Those were my ancestors. Bennett witches that never should've been burned in the first place. And frankly, having a complete stranger ask them for anything is offensive to me. So... You can leave the way you came." As she stepped back, Damon moved with her.

He grinned at Elena. "Your heard her. Better skedaddle before she hits you with a whammy of an aneurysm spell."

"Wait, _please_ ," Elena begged.

Damon reached for the door. "Wish we could help, really, except not. _Bye_..."

As the door swung shut, Elena cursed, and threw her head back with an angry moan.

What the hell was she supposed to do now?

Just as she thought it, her eyes popped open.

 _Stefan_.

* * *

 **...**

* * *

Since Stefan wasn't at the boarding house, Elena's next best guess was Mystic Grill. She came up empty when she checked and so, the next place she found herself, was wandering through the forest. After nearly an hour of searching, she finally heard it. A familiar laugh. Hurrying ahead, she came to a skidding halt as she saw Stefan walking with a familiar blonde.

"...was not even remotely funny. Leave those poor bunnies alone. You don't even eat them anymore!"

"I wasn't going to eat it. And anyway, you've had your fair share of bunnies."

"And I will _never_ forgive myself."

Stefan chuckled. "I think they'll forgive you. It was all in an effort to save lives."

" _Still_." She hooked her arm through his. "Anyway, there's plenty of blood back at the boarding house. And I promised Bonnie I'd be there before 5. She's got an exam next week, so I've got a 100-pack of cue cards and I'm going to quiz her."

"Sounds like fun." He leaned over, bumping his shoulder against hers. "Why don't I make dinner tonight? You two can focus on studying and I'll throw something together."

"Yeah?" She grinned at him. "I'd like that."

He smiled back, tipping his head forward. Caroline leaned in and lifted up on the tips of her toes, meeting his lips halfway.

Elena's breath caught.

The couple went still for a beat and then pulled apart, turning abruptly. In a blink, they each had a stick in hand, broken at the top to make a stake.

Elena put her hands up in surrender. "Whoa, I'm not an enemy."

Stefan and Caroline exchanged a look before glancing back at her.

"Who are you?" Caroline demanded.

"What're you doing out here?" Stefan added.

Sighing in defeat, Elena shook her head. "I know you won't believe this, but... You both know me. In fact, we're friends."

Caroline's hand tightened on her stake. "You're right... I don't believe you."

"I did something really, truly stupid. It was a _huge_ mistake! But, if you can help me reverse it somehow, you'll understand."

Stefan's eyes narrowed. "Understand what?"

"That none of this is real. It… It's not supposed to be like this."

Caroline stared at her a long beat, her lips pressed flat, and then she sighed. "You're a vampire, right?"

"I…" Elena's brow furrowed. "Yeah. Wh—?"

Before Elena could react, Caroline was behind her, hands gripping her head. "Consider this a favor."

With a _snap_ , everything went dark.

* * *

 **…**

* * *

Elena awoke, bleary eyed and head pounding, to find herself chained to a chair in the cellar of the boarding house. With a sigh, she thought, _'at least I made it into the house this time…_ '

She could hear arguing upstairs.

"You brought that bag of crazy into the _house?_ " Damon shouted incredulously. "What part of 'be on the lookout for some weird brunet that's _obsessed_ with us' did you not understand?"

"She said something was wrong, that she did something and it was affecting us," Stefan explained. "Shouldn't we at least hear her out?"

" _No_. You do not reward insanity. Or stalking. Or insane stalking!" The sound of a decanter slamming down could be heard then, followed by liquid being poured, no doubt pouring himself another bourbon. "This chick showed up at the house this morning acting like her and Bonnie were old friends. Talk about a giant red flag. Yet here you are, dragging her crazy butt into the house."

"Why did she come here? Why did she track us down? Aren't these things we should be figuring out?" Stefan asked. "If she really is a threat, then we need to know how big of one."

"And you think she'll just tell us?"

With a sigh, Bonnie said, "Stefan has a point. As much as I don't like having her here, there's something strange about her."

Damon scoffed. "I think we've established that."

"No, I mean, she's not familiar, but she _is_ … I'm not saying she is who she says she is. But I do think we should find out more about what she _thinks_ is going on. Because if this is some set-up to something bigger, we need to be prepared."

"Eavesdropping is rude, you know."

Elena's head turned abruptly as she realized that Caroline had been standing in her cell the whole time. With her back against the wall and her arms crossed, she stared at Elena with an inscrutable expression.

"Caroline…" Elena searched her face. "You don't recognize me at all?"

A beat passed before Caroline answered. "No."

Shaking her head, Elena tried to think of something, anything, that might trigger a memory. All she found was— "Katherine! Katherine Pierce, do you know her?"

"Damon and Stefan's bitchy sire?" She snorted. "Yeah, we've met."

Elena's brow furrowed. "Around the same time Katherine broke your neck when you had Damon's blood in your system, right?"

"What? _No_. When she blew into town to cause havoc and just be a general nuisance like four years ago. What does she have to do with anything?"

Elena shook her head. "You don't see a resemblance?"

"To you? Uh, have you seen a mirror lately?" Caroline cocked her head, her brow furrowed. "No offense or anything, but you couldn't even pass for distant cousins."

Elena looked down at herself, but everything looked exactly like it always had. "Do you have a mirror?"

Caroline scowled at her. "Why?"

"Just— Please?"

Rolling her eyes, Caroline dug her phone out of her pocket and opened the camera app, turning it around for Elena to see herself on the screen. "Does this work?"

Elena stared at herself on the phone and then slowly shook her head. She looked exactly the same as she always had. So then… "What does Katherine look like?"

"Curly blond hair, blue eyes, creepy silver eyelashes." Caroline shrugged and put her phone away. "Again, nothing like you."

"But…" Elena shook her head. "I don't understand."

"Welcome to the club." She put her hands on her hips and stared down at Elena. "Why did you come here?"

"Because, I… I live her. Or I did. Kind of. It was complicated…"

"Who _are_ you?"

"My name is Elena Gilbert. I grew up here. I grew up with _you_. You and Bonnie are my _best_ friends! I— I have a brother. Jeremy—"

"Jeremy Gilbert," Caroline interrupted. "I know him. We aren't friends or anything, but I used to see him around school." She shook her head. "He never had a sister."

"Wait, what?"

"He had a cousin, though."

"A cousin?" Elena's gaze drifted away in thought.

"Yeah, grew up in North Carolina or something, moved here a year ago. I haven't met her. I think Matt said something about her going to Whitmore, but it's a big campus and Bonnie and I spend a lot of time back here."

A knock at the cellar door drew their attention then. It swung open to reveal a scowling Damon. Behind him followed Bonnie and Stefan.

"You get anything out of her?" Damon wondered.

"She thinks she's a Gilbert," Caroline answered. "Says her name is Elena and she's related to Jeremy."

Stefan and Damon exchanged a look.

"The Gilberts hunted vampires once upon a time…" Damon smiled, but it was forced and insincere. "I can't see them being too happy at having one in the family."

"I wish I had more answers for you but I don't. This—This is not my life." Elena's eyes widened desperately. "This is not what I'm used to! I- I was a doppelganger. I looked exactly like Katherine Pierce. Or she looked like me… I know how crazy this sounds, but—"

"Tell us what it was like… Where you're from," Bonnie said.

"Bon…" Damon's brows hiked as he looked at her. "Don't encourage the crazies."

"What if she's right and something is wrong?"

"What, you think some witches somewhere twisted up our reality?"

" _Or_ she's from a different reality." Bonnie eyed Elena curiously. "What's different? Besides the you and Katherine thing. What stands out?"

"We were friends. Me and you and Caroline." She looked between the two girls. "For basically our entire lives. Our parents knew each other."

"Okay. What else?"

"I… I was with Damon." She looked up at him, staring back at her with a furrowed brow. "I mean, it was complicated, and we were fighting a lot before everything changed, but we were together. And before that…" She winced. "I was with Stefan."

Damon made a whistling noise. "Two for two on the brother's front. That's just delightful."

Elena rolled her eyes. "It wasn't like that. Stefan and I were together when I was human… It was different then. But when I turned, I… I couldn't avoid my feelings anymore. They'd been growing for so long." She let her head fall back. "All of this is ancient history now, I swear. You guys are over it."

"So, you dated Stefan _and_ Damon and you're our best friend, but we don't remember any of it?" Caroline scoffed. "I think we have a super-fan."

"No! I can prove it! I- I know things. I know _everything_ about you. Which probably sounds really creepy, but I meant that we've been friends for so long that I was there for every big milestone in your lives! I know that Caroline's dad is gay and he left her mom for another man. I know Bonnie's mom left when she was a little girl because of Klaus and she remarried and has a step-son. I know Bonnie's afraid of the water, but she became a lifeguard to overcome it. I know Caroline's afraid that the same thing that happened to her mom will happen to her. I know her mom died of cancer and that Sheila died keeping the tomb open and—"

"Okay, that's enough," Bonnie interrupted. "Look, I don't want to burst your bubble, but wherever you're getting your information, it's wrong… At least some of it."

"Yeah, Papa Forbes is definitely still gay," Damon said. "But the rest of that is a little iffy."

Elena looked around at them, frowning. "Which parts?"

"My mom never left me… Her and my dad divorced when I was ten, but she's still very much a part of my life," Bonnie explained. "We've _fought_ Klaus before, mostly because Katherine dragged all her issues this way. But it's never involved my mom. I mean, she's helped fight him, but she's never left _because_ of him."

"And Grams is alive. I'd know. She still hexes me every time we cross paths." Damon pursed his lips. "I invite that woman over for Sunday dinner every week and she criticizes everything I make…"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You're lucky all she does is hex you."

"I am a _perfect_ gentleman around her."

"For about five minutes, and then you go back to being who you really are, which is _annoying._ " The grin she offered then was anything but chastising. "Anyway, she doesn't hate you. She just thinks it's funny to hex you."

"Which it is," Caroline agreed.

Stefan ducked his head as he smiled.

"Grams is alive?" Elena's eyes widened. "What about Liz?"

Caroline grimaced and Stefan made his way toward her, his hand sliding over her back soothingly.

"We lost her last year," he answered. "They found the cancer early, but it was aggressive, and vampire blood can't cure everything."

"We found that out the hard way." Damon frowned. "Anyway, now that I think about it, the only thing you got right was Bon-Bon's fear of the water. Unless Blondie's still rocking some insecurities I'm not aware of." He glanced back at her and, seeing her glare, shrugged. "I'm guessing 'no,' so…"

Elena felt lightheaded. Everything she knew, or at least most of it, was pointless. What could she possibly say that might make them see that she was who she said she was?

"You said Jeremy Gilbert had a cousin that came to live with him…" She looked up, searching their faces. "Who does he live with? Aunt Jemma? God, tell me it isn't Isobel…"

Caroline and Bonnie exchanged a look and then shook their heads. "No, he still lives with his parents," Bonnie said. "Grayson and Miranda. His mom is friends with mine. They do wine club on Thursdays."

Her eyes widened. "They… They're alive?"

"Yeah…" Bonnie stared at her. "They aren't where you're from?"

"No, they… There was an accident. I… It was my fault." She paused, realization dawning. "It was _my_ fault, because I was there. Because they picked me up from the party. But it's different here. Because I'm not their daughter. I… I'm their niece. Aren't I?" She let out a choked laugh then. "I asked them to fix it. To make it right… I'm not the doppelganger anymore." She smiled, before suddenly her head was filled with a myriad of memories. They were fuzzy and distant, but they were hers. Sort of.

Elena was raised by her biological mother, Isobel. She was only sixteen at the time, so she moved in with Grayson and Miranda while she finished high school. She moved out once she started college, taking Elena along with her to live in an off-campus apartment. It was tough, balancing school and a toddler, but she did it. Elena remembered listening to her mom read aloud from her text books while she cradled Elena in her other arm, lulling her to sleep with whatever reading she had to get done. And then Alaric came along. Just as obsessed with the paranormal as Isobel was. They were married and Ric adopted Elena as his own. She had a home. A family. They lived together in Durham, North Carolina, where her parents co-taught a parapsychology course when they weren't traveling the world to find the real thing. When she was twenty, Elena moved to Mystic Falls, staying with her Aunt Miranda and Uncle Grayson the summer before she started a pre-med program at Whitmore. Her parents were currently on an expedition in Egypt…

"Everything's different," she whispered.

"Pretty sure we already figured that out, Whackado." Damon crouched down in front of her, staring at her curiously. "So, what's the verdict?"

"I…" She stared down at him. At this man that had been both the best and worst parts of her life. And she remembered how desperately she'd been holding onto him in the months leading up to her drunken tirade at the witch's house. He'd been pulling away for so long and she knew exactly why. Things had changed. _They_ had changed. It wasn't just the memories she had Ric remove and then return. It was more than that. He found something in that prison world. Himself, maybe. Or some shred of the humanity he swore he didn't have. But more than that, he found—

"Bonnie."

"What?" Bonnie shifted, staring at her dubiously.

"You're together. Aren't you? You and Damon?"

"What's it to you?" Damon stood, lips pursed as he stepped to the side so he was half-shielding Bonnie defensively.

Elena let out a cracked laugh. "I thought… God, I'm so stupid. I thought when I asked the witches to change it, to make it right, that… At the core of it, all the pain and suffering, it was a hurdle, not the foundation… But I was wrong. We were together because of everything that went wrong. Because of who it shaped us into. Because we were each other's trophy."

"I'm totally lost," he muttered.

She looked up at him, tears springing to her eyes. "You're happy," she said. "Really, truly, without a doubt, happy."

He simply stared at her a beat and then turned his head to look at Bonnie.

"Humor me." Elena sniffed. "Please. Just… Tell me your story. What's life like for you? All of you?"

Nobody answered at first. But then Bonnie's hand found Damon's arm and she squeezed, gently. "Damon came to town four years ago, when Katherine showed up and started creating problems. Grams called him."

"Grams?" Elena's voice rose with her surprise.

"He was charged with keeping the Bennetts safe back when he was turned. He took it seriously, so he showed up when she called. When he realized who it was, he called in Stefan."

"We'd been trying to find Katherine for years," Stefan explained. "So were a lot of other people."

"Klaus," Elena said knowingly.

"Yeah, but he came later." Damon crossed his arms, Bonnie's hand tucked in against his bicep. "In the beginning, it was just Katherine trying to open the tomb and let out her merry band of blood thirsty lunatics. We couldn't let that happen or the town would become a human smorgasbord. Cue a very long game of cat and mouse, in which we may or may not have lost the upper hand a few more times that we should have, and Katherine took off. For a while, at least…"

"But you stayed."

"Yeah, well, Stefan was all moony-eyed over Carebear and Katherine was still a threat, so we stuck around for a bit."

Bonnie turned a knowing smile on Damon

He rolled his eyes and added, "I might've had a few reasons of my own."

"Uh-huh…" Bonnie returned her attention to Elena. "Mystic Falls has had its fair share of supernatural problems since. Not the least of which is Katherine. But we've held our own. It helps having a few extra witches on hand. Between Grams, my mom, and me, we can generally deal with whatever comes at us. My cousin Lucy visits if we need an extra hand."

"Plus, those dashingly handsome Salvatore brothers," Damon snarked. "They're always good in a pinch."

"One is," Caroline muttered.

Damon let out a long sigh. "Love you, too, Barbie."

Elena looked around at each of them, a faint, sad smile on her mouth. "It's better."

"What is?"

"This place. This… _world_. It's better than mine was. Mine was blood and death and chaos. Everyone we knew and loved was constantly being killed and targeted. Bonnie died two, maybe three times. I lost count. I mean, we resurrected her. Or Damon did, and then she brought herself back. But, it wasn't the same. Something was always going wrong. But here… It's different. Without a doppelganger, without _me_ , you're all better off. And…" She let a laugh and shook her head. "I think I am, too. I… I remember my family. My parents—Isobel and Ric— are alive and happy. My aunt and uncle never died. My brother… or cousin, I guess. He never had to lose them." She closed her eyes then and let out a quiet sigh of relief. "The witches did what I asked."

"Great." Damon clapped his hands together. "We've successfully cured her of her obsession… I think."

"What are we supposed to do now? Just release her?" Caroline looked around at them, unconvinced. "What if she comes back? Or what if this is just a ploy and she straight up wants to murder us? How do we even know what she's saying is the truth?"

"I cast an honest spell on her after we put her down here," Bonnie said. "Everything she's saying she _believes_."

Damon hummed. "That doesn't make it true, just makes her extra nuts."

Stefan nodded. "It's still in effect though, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Bonnie said. "For a couple more hours, at least."

Stefan turned to Elena. "What do you want to do?"

"I…" Elena's brow furrowed. "I thought I wanted you back. All of you. When I woke up, I thought I'd come back here, find Damon, make things right. For a while, at least. But, I knew it was only a matter of time… He was ready to move on, but I wasn't ready to let him go."

"And now?"

"Now, I… I want to go home." She swallowed tightly. "To North Carolina."

"And what about here? What about all of us?"

She stared up at him and smiled faintly, her mouth trembling. "I'll miss you. I really will. And I know you won't miss me, because to you I'm just some… completely out of her mind stranger. But… I still remember everything. I don't know how long that will last, but for as long as it does… I'll miss you." She shakes her head, a tear slipping down her cheek. "But in maybe the most unselfish move of my life, I think I should go. I think… No, I _know_ that we're all better off if I stay away."

Bonnie took a step forward, briefly stayed by Damon's hand on her arm, squeezing worriedly. "It's okay."

He stared back at her, unsure, but slowly released her.

Continuing toward Elena, Bonnie reached out, her hands landing on either of Elena's shoulders.

A cool, soothing feeling rushed through Elena's body. A blanket of comfort that surrounded her entirely. "We don't want to hurt you. We want to help you… Tell us how to do that."

Elena looks up at her. "The Gilberts. Miranda and Grayson."

Bonnied nodded. "Okay."

* * *

 **…**

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Bonnie sat in the passenger seat of Damon's Mustang, watching Elena Gilbert walk up the steps of the Gilbert porch. She watched as Miranda opened the door, only to be greeted by a sobbing niece. She hugged her, patting her back. "What's wrong? Elena, honey, are you okay?"

Still crying, Elena nodded. "I am now."

"Ready?" Damon asked, turning the key in the ignition.

Elena let Miranda draw her into the house, her arms wrapped around her aunt's waist. But she paused there in the doorway and looked back toward the car.

Bonnie raised a hand in farewell.

Elena mouthed back— _thank you_.

With a nod, Bonnie turned forward in her seat. "Yeah, I'm ready."

As the Mustang pulled away down the road, she looked at Damon beside her.

Feeling her gaze, he grinned, and reached for her hand, folding their fingers together. "How sure are you she isn't just going to snap and pull some kind of Single White Female on everybody?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I don't know. I just do."

"You really think she'll head back to North Caroline and leave us alone? After all that weirdness earlier? Coming to the house, tracking down Stefan, making up that elaborate lie about knowing us?"

"I don't know that it was a lie."

He turned to her, brows hiked incredulously. "You believed that bullshit?"

"She believed it." Bonnie shrugged. "What if she's right? What if there's some world where she was our friend and you were her be all, end all?"

He snorted. "Not likely."

"Why?" She shook her head. "Our lives could be completely different."

"I know one thing that isn't…" He raised her hand and kiss the tips of her fingers tenderly. "Even Crazy Pants said that I was already falling for you. So, whatever world we're in, one thing stays the same. Me and you, Bon-Bon. Partners in life and crime no matter where we are."

"Half the time we're taking out the bad guys, so really, we're partners in _justice_."

Damon smirked. "Whatever works for you."

She stared up at him softly. "I'm glad, though."

"Yeah? About what?"

"That you're mine." She shook her head. "The world she comes from or the one she thought up in her head, however you want to look at it… It sounded awful. Full of death and loss and sacrifice… But here, I mean, we faced down some terrible things and people, but… We're stronger. We have more help and resources and—"

"Each other."

"Yeah." She smiled. "Yeah, we do."

"I'm not going anywhere." He grinned at her. "Not without you."

"Good. 'Cause you're stuck with me." She smirked. "I'm like a fever you can't shake."

His head fell back as he laughed and Bonnie joined him.

* * *

 **…**

* * *

A week later, Elena found herself walking through an airport in Cairo, searching for two familiar faces. Her nerves were frayed and her stomach in knots, but her excitement nearly drowned all of that out. She finally spotted them in the distance. Isobel and Ric, holding a sign above their heads with ELENA in large block letters. She let out a trembling laugh and hurried her steps.

Her mom met her half way. Isobel had had a warm tan, laugh lines around her bright blue eyes, and a wide, genuine smile just for her. She gathered Elena into a tight hug. "Oh, I missed you…" she murmured into her hair.

Elena squeezed her eyes closed against her tears. "I missed you, too."

When she let go, Isobel reached up, cupping Elena's face affectionately. "How long's it been, huh? Weeks? Months? Years?"

"Too long."

"Agreed," Ric said, reaching for his own hug.

Elena sunk into it, sighing into his shoulder. "Are you disappointed?"

He squeezed her and dropped a kiss on top of her head. "Med school can wait a little while longer. As long as you're happy, we're happy."

When she fell back on her heels, she looked from him to Isobel and back.

All of the pieces of before, all of the memories she had of her former life, just drifted away. There was only this life. Only these people. Elena Saltzman, daughter of Isobel and Alaric. And really, who better for a recently turned vampire to be the child of, then two people that loved that supernatural world?

"Come on!" Isobel took up Elena's hand. "Let's get you back to the apartment. We made sure to pick up some _refreshments_. You're probably hungry after the flight and everything."

Elena nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great."

Together, the three of them made their way through the airport to return to life as it always had been and always would be.

* * *

 **…**

* * *

Back at the boarding house, Damon stood at the stove, making a pot of pasta for dinner.

"How's it coming along?"

He looked back over his shoulder to find Sheila watching him through narrowed eyes.

"How long have I been making you dinner?" Before she could answer, he did it himself, "Long enough that you don't need to worry so much."

Sheila scoffed. "You'd think after all these years, you'd be used to my meddling."

"I accept it with a resigned affection." He smirked. "Like any good future grandson-in-law would."

With a laugh, Sheila shook her head. "You know, Damon, if you'd said something like that a few years ago, I might've told you just how impossible it'd be for a vampire and a witch to make things work. But you and Bonnie, you've surprised me. There's still some questions you both need to be asking yourself, but I trust you'll get to that in time."

"I'm sorry, I think I blacked out at some point. Did you just say you _trust_ me?"

She grinned slowly. "You're a lucky man, you know that?"

"It's occurred to me, yeah."

With a hum, she flicked her fingers, and he jumped where he stood. "Luck doesn't keep a Bennett by your side. Hard work, loyalty, and love does that just fine. But luck… Luck is a whim. What you are is blessed. Terrible at ducking from hexes, but blessed to have a good family around you."

Rubbing his side, which still stung from what appeared to be one of her lesser hexes, he nodded. "All right, blessed it is."

"That's right."

The kitchen door swung open then, admitting a laughing Abby alongside a proudly grinning Stefan.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Why do you always get the nice one?"

Stefan shook his head and made his way over to kiss Sheila's cheek. "They're both nice."

"Suck up."

Caroline and Bonnie followed behind them, chatting amongst themselves.

"Dinner's just about done." Damon wiped his hands on a towel and nodded his chin toward the table for them to sit.

"Somebody wanna tell us why we're here on a Thursday?" Abby wondered, uncorking a bottle of vintage wine to top off her glass. "Bonnie left a message about wanting to tell us something urgent. Said something strange happened."

"That's right." Bonnie's brow furrowed. "I know there was something, but I just can't remember what it was."

Caroline frowned. "Yeah, same…"

"Whatever it was, it couldn't have been that important." Sheila held her own glass out to be topped off. "I say we eat and talk about whatever new threat's wandered into town _after_."

"Seconded," Stefan agreed.

Damon put the pasta and sauce into separate bowls and brought them to the table, where fresh garlic bread was already being pieced apart by everybody. He took a seat at the head of the table and picked up his glass of wine, smiling at he looked out at everybody gathered. These were his favorite people, his family, and he couldn't want for more or better.

Bonnie's hand covered his atop the table and squeezed. She grinned at him, a sparkle in warm green eyes.

Damon raised her hand and kissed her wrist, smiling as her palm cupped his cheek.

And all was right in his world.

* * *

 **end**

* * *

 **author's note** : _i had this half-finished on my computer for ages and finally just sat down and wrote the rest out. i'm kind of meh about it. it's a distant sort of bamon fic, so it feels more like an outside looking in kind of thing. i don't write from elena's pov a lot, so this was an interesting take for me. i just really like the idea of bonnie having grams and her mom and damon having this 'found family' with the bennetts and steroline. and i did want elena to walk away being happy with what she had, which is a real family that accepts her being a vampire and supportive and out there exploring the world. plus, jeremy gets to have his parents back._

 _also, i did take the katherine description from the books. i haven't read them. i just looked it up on the tvd wiki. i didn't want to change how elena looked, but i needed to split her from the doppelgangers, so this works._

 _anyway, i hope you liked it! i swear, i'm working on 'til eternity, it's just taking a while and i keep getting distracted with other projects. it's always harder to write for a show that isn't airing anymore. but it's on its way._

 _one last thing! i do have a **ko-fi account** where you can buy me a coffee/send a donation in of appreciation. you can find it on my tumblr ( **sarcasticfina** ) on the sidebar, the blue "buy me a coffee" box or at the top of the page, through the ko-fi link. every little bit is appreciated! :)_

 _please try to leave a review! they're a huge encouragement!_  
\- **Lee | Fina**


End file.
